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September 13, 2012
Polish and German Y-chromosomes
A new paper in EJHG follows on this tradition by comparing pre- and post-WWII patterns of Y chromosome variation in Germany and Poland. Y-haplogroup frequencies can be seen on top left. From the caption: "Phylogenetic relationship and frequencies of Y-chromosomal haplogroups in the studied populations. Ka Kaszuby; Ko Kociewie; Ku Kurpie; Lu Lusatia; Sl Slovakia; Me Mecklenburg; Ba Bavaria."
It is important to note that the researchers were able to study pre-war populations, because most everybody knows where their patrilineal ancestor lived less than 100 years ago. But, European history consists of many events whose effects on the current population are less known, because they occurred at an older time. In some cases, populations may have migrated (such as the Germans of eastern Europe following WWII), in others populations that have once existed there have almost disappeared, or become much less numerically significant (such as the Ashkenazi Jews due to persecution during WWII and after it through migration to Israel and elsewhere, or various Christian and Jewish communities that once flourished throughout the Middle East). Other, less known groups, such as the Old Prussians or the Jassic speakers of Hungary have been presumably absorbed by surrounding majorities, or through a process of elite dominance.
In many cases, the available information, in the form of linguistic, genealogical, or historical evidence, can be used to remove layers of admixture, migration, and extinction in history; but, the gap between the deep prehistoric past and the recent, historical one cannot be bridged by these methods alone. Ultimately, ancient DNA researchers must close in on the present by targeting more recent populations for analysis. As the realization of genetic change continues to amass on both sides of the divide, I suspect that this will come naturally, although I do expect some reticence to the findings as they begin to touch upon the most cherished origins traditions of the multitude of extant European nations.
European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 12 September 2012; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2012.190
Contemporary paternal genetic landscape of Polish and German populations: from early medieval Slavic expansion to post-World War II resettlements
Krzysztof Rebala et al.
Homogeneous Proto-Slavic genetic substrate and/or extensive mixing after World War II were suggested to explain homogeneity of contemporary Polish paternal lineages. Alternatively, Polish local populations might have displayed pre-war genetic heterogeneity owing to genetic drift and/or gene flow with neighbouring populations. Although sharp genetic discontinuity along the political border between Poland and Germany indisputably results from war-mediated resettlements and homogenisation, it remained unknown whether Y-chromosomal diversity in ethnically/linguistically defined populations was clinal or discontinuous before the war. In order to answer these questions and elucidate early Slavic migrations, 1156 individuals from several Slavic and German populations were analysed, including Polish pre-war regional populations and an autochthonous Slavic population from Germany. Y chromosomes were assigned to 39 haplogroups and genotyped for 19 STRs. Genetic distances revealed similar degree of differentiation of Slavic-speaking pre-war populations from German populations irrespective of duration and intensity of contacts with German speakers. Admixture estimates showed minor Slavic paternal ancestry (~20%) in modern eastern Germans and hardly detectable German paternal ancestry in Slavs neighbouring German populations for centuries. BATWING analysis of isolated Slavic populations revealed that their divergence was preceded by rapid demographic growth, undermining theory that Slavic expansion was primarily linguistic rather than population spread. Polish pre-war regional populations showed within-group heterogeneity and lower STR variation within R-M17 subclades compared with modern populations, which might have been homogenised by war resettlements. Our results suggest that genetic studies on early human history in the Vistula and Oder basins should rely on reconstructed pre-war rather than modern populations.
17 comments:
- Slumbery said...
"Other, less known groups, such as the Old Prussians or the Jassic speakers of Hungary have been presumably absorbed by surrounding majorities, or through a process of elite dominance."
We did not have a Hungarian elite placed upon us, the Jassic area had a special legal status until the 19. century. For example there were no feudal lords. The language loss, after earlier slow assimilation, finished during and directly after the Turkish wars that caused huge migrations in the area, partly breaking down the old communities and partly introducing non-Jassic migrants.
This is a good example of what you talking about in general actually. Because of the Turkish invasion, most of the population of the area of the current Hungary was replaced. I am quite sure that the population of (current) Central and Eastern Hungary around 1800 has less than 50% ancestry from the population of the same area around 1500.
Most of the Jassic settlements survived though, but not with their language. Not a surprise, we talk about an 1000 km2 area with a dozen villages that were not isolated geographically at all (no natural borders so far).
Sorry for the low relevance, I tend to be sentimental about my home village. :) - Thursday, September 13, 2012 8:06:00 pm
- J said...
Since I was born in Jaszbereny, I can say that the Jasz and Kun (Petcheneg) populations lost their language but since they occupied small villages in inaccessible places, they maintained their ethnic identity. The Jaszsag, for example, is built on low sand hills in the middle of an enormous swamp (which now has been drained). The last Jassic speaking Hungarian died a hundred years ago.
- Thursday, September 13, 2012 8:40:00 pm
- formerjerseyboy said...
"I am quite sure that the population of (current) Central and Eastern Hungary around 1800 has less than 50% ancestry from the population of the same area around 1500."
Could you mention a source for futher information on this? It sounds quite similar to the demographic shifts across the Iberian peninsula, during the Spanish "Reconquista." - Thursday, September 13, 2012 11:08:00 pm
- andrew said...
Slumbery's on the ground familiarity with the situation is surely more credible than a tertiary source, but it is worth noting that the Wikipedia article on the history of Hungary generally confirms his conclusion about demographic shift in Hungary, albeit with less specificity, as does the Wikipedia article on the Hungarian People, with considerably more specificity, citing:
* Hungary. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
* A Country Study: Hungary. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
* "International Boundary Study – No. 47 – April 15, 1965 – Hungary – Romania (Rumania) Boundary". US Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
* Historical World Atlas. With the commendation of the Royal Geographical Society. Carthographia, Budapest, Hungary, 2005. ISBN 963-352-002-9CM
* Steven W. Sowards. "Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History (The Balkans in the Age of Nationalism), Lecture 4: Hungary and the limits of Habsburg authority". Michigan State University Libraries. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
* A. MaCartney D. Litt. (1962). Hungary A Short History. Edinburgh University Press.
* Robert A. Kann (1980). A history of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918. University of California Press. p. 205. ISBN 0-520-04206-9, 9780520042063.
I have also read the conclusion that he makes in a couple of more scholarly accounts setting forth the demographic shift in Hungary in that time period that I have read in the last few years while I was researching the disconnect between Hungary's Uralic linguistic affinities and non-Uralic population genetic profile while writing blog posts and comments that touched on that point.
But, I honestly cannot recall precisely which couple of articles pointed this out and I have been sloppy about keeping good indexes of these articles.
I think that one of them may have been in the discussion found in one of the fairly recent journal article that assigned haplogroups to some samples of Medieval Hungarian DNA, but I'm not entirely sure of that. - Friday, September 14, 2012 9:28:00 pm
- Onur Dincer said...
What are the main sources of information on the demographics and ethnic composition of Hungary for the centuries preceding the 19th century (according to Wikipedia, the first accurate measurements of the population of Hungary including ethnic composition were carried out in 1850–51)? Church registers? How far back in time do they go?
- Sunday, September 16, 2012 1:07:00 am
- Slumbery said...
I do not have linkable sources. My knowledge of the topic has two main sources:
- written Hungarian books, included my school textbooks.
- the knowledge about the origin of family names in the wider area (so not only the Jassic area).
Generally it is a common knowledge in Hungary (for those who are interested).
Just a tiny example of the first: there is a before-after map in one of my history atlases that show the settlements of the closer central Hungary before the Turkish war and after it. The "after" part is colour coded based on the ethnicity of each settlement. There is no comment in the atlas, but this pair of maps show that about 80% of the settlements were downright obliterated (especially the smaller ones) and in the 18th century Hungarians were clearly a minority in the area where the modern Budapest is. In this particular area most of the new settlers were Germans but Slovakians and Serbians are also significant. Southwest from this area Croatian elements start to dominate, mixed with Germans.
About the second: there are plenty of people even in the Jassic area that have family names with German, Slovakian or Croatian origin or family names that are linguistically Hungarian but refer to those origins. Also there is an other group that has family names connecting them to Geographical places outside of the current Hungary. They are descendants of the Hungarians from Transylvania and the Highland (Slovakia). (The use of family names among commoners started to be widespread in than time, so many people got family names referring to where they came.)
I work for a small firm in Budapest. 12 people. Everybody is Hungarian. 3 people have downright German family name, 1 told me that the family changed its German name after the II.WW., one has a family name referring to a city in current west Turkey (either Turkish or Greek family origin), another one with a family name that refer to French origin. Two of them have family names that refer to Highland settlements, in an area that was mostly outside the Turkish control/reach. One of them has a family name that clearly shows Transylvanian origin (not a Geographical name, but virtually everybody with that name comes from Transylvania). That makes 25% of male lineages that may existed in the region before the Turkish war or may not. (Well, maybe 33%, the French family could be a post Mongolian invasion settler, many French came in that time, during the same re-population when the Jassic and the Cumans came.)
J: you overemphasize that swamp-isolation thing. There were swamps in the South and East(just like all along the river Tisza in the Carpatian basin, it was like the Nile before the regulation), but all the settlements were accessible, and actually only one Jassic village exists that does not have direct Hungarian neighbour. - Sunday, September 16, 2012 11:15:00 am
- Onur Dincer said...
- written Hungarian books, included my school textbooks.
Just a tiny example of the first: there is a before-after map in one of my history atlases that show the settlements of the closer central Hungary before the Turkish war and after it. The "after" part is colour coded based on the ethnicity of each settlement. There is no comment in the atlas, but this pair of maps show that about 80% of the settlements were downright obliterated (especially the smaller ones) and in the 18th century Hungarians were clearly a minority in the area where the modern Budapest is. In this particular area most of the new settlers were Germans but Slovakians and Serbians are also significant. Southwest from this area Croatian elements start to dominate, mixed with Germans.
But what are the sources of information on the demographics and ethnic composition of Hungary that those books use for the centuries preceding the 19th century (according to Wikipedia, the first accurate measurements of the population of Hungary including ethnic composition were carried out in 1850–51)? Church registers? But for most parts of Hungary church registers begin only after the end of the Ottoman rule:
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Hungary_Church_Records - Thursday, September 20, 2012 6:06:00 pm
- Slumbery said...
You do need accurate measurements to notice that a whole old settlement stopped to exist or a new was founded.
During the initial re-population of the most devastated areas a significant part of the new settlements were ethnically almost pure (because the settlers were not spontaneous but organized) and in this part I talked about the ratio between the settlements themselves. You do not need accurate measurements on personal level for this. The foundation of the new settlements and the origin of the people that founded a given settlement was actually well documented and these documents are accessible in the archives.
So this is the source of that map.
Of course this is not accurate for the overall ethnic ratio, because we do not know the exact population of each settlements and they were still mixed a bit for sure. But I never said anything like "41,27% of the people were German settlers".
This settlement level ethnicity is only true for the most devastated areas (like the closer central Hungary/the area of Budapest), but even in other areas we have the names of the people from tax and estate records and the documents of local lawsuits. This also accessible in the archives.
This is also not accurate, but you do not need the accuracy of a census to say something like "more than half of the population was replaced". - Thursday, September 20, 2012 9:07:00 pm
- Onur Dincer said...
The church registers and apparently the sources you cite are almost totally from after the Ottoman rule. What sources can you cite for the Ottoman rule era and before? If Ottomans really triggered a partial but significant ethnic/demographic change in Hungary, we should first know the ethnic composition and demographics of Hungary before and during the Ottoman rule to be able to know that.
BTW, are you Jassic? - Friday, September 21, 2012 9:26:00 am
- Slumbery said...
Before I answer this I must start with a disclaimer. I am not an expert of the area and not even interested enough to ever look directly into the original sources. I can only write about what I know and there will be some speculation in my answer, but I try my best.
First, this is a rather well researched topic in Hungary and the scenario of partial/mayor population replacement seems to be the consensus of the experts. They may very well have sources I do not know about, simply because did not devote enough time to the topic.
Now, we have separate the two questions we are talking about, the population replacement itself and the ethnic composition of the pre-Ottoman central Hungary.
As for the population replacement, the post war data alone are sufficient. The sources of the new population are documented both directly (settlement foundation documents)and indirectly (names and other documents) and the pre-war ethnic composition is irrelevant for the fact of population replacement itself. We do not need to know what was replaced.
Also since an immigrant population that had exactly the same ethnic composition as the earlier is rather unlikely, it is more than plausible to assume that some change in the ethnic composition happened, whatever would be the pre-war composition.
Now, the pre-war ethnic composition of the area is a totally different question. We have less data from this time, but still much more than nothing. To make a long story short: the place and other geographical names as well as the names of the people named in remained (indeed, not very numerous, but still existing) documents do not show significant/widespread non-Hungarian presence in the area from the XV. century. (Other than the well known cases of gradually assimilated XIII. century (post-Mongolian) settlers, like Jassic.)At least nothing like after the war.
I emphasize that I talk about parts of the current Hungary.
"BTW, are you Jassic?"
Yes, however this does not mean too much nowadays. We do not even have a dialect, also our appearance is pretty much within the "mainstream" Hungarian variety. It is stopped to be an actual ethnicity a long time ago. - Friday, September 21, 2012 7:29:00 pm
- Onur Dincer said...
Actually, the Ottoman archives of Hungary, including tax registers, are still available, so we have some demographic information about Hungary during the Ottoman rule. But I doubt they contain enough information about the ethnic or linguistic composition of the Ottoman Hungary, because Ottomans were not interested in ethnicity or language of their subjects and counted households based on religion (for taxation purposes) instead and as a rule did not record names of their subjects. For the pre-Ottoman Hungary I guess we have even less data. - Friday, September 21, 2012 10:23:00 pm
- Justin said...
Slumbery, could you tell me about the surname Sabo/ Szabo? I am suspicious of it being a Magyar word, and when I've looked it up I've gotten a few trails other than the typical "Tailor" - one of which being the name Sabastian - and found some similarities to words of surounding countries. Might it be a borrowing or corruption? - Saturday, September 22, 2012 6:34:00 am
- Slumbery said...
There is no mystery, you have already found the meaning. It literally means "tailor" and a very common Hungarian family name (the fourth most common in Hungary).
There is no connection to the name Sabastian/Sebastian (Sebestyén is the Hungarian version of that name).
I can't judge similar words in the neighboring coutries, because I do not know what did you see exactly, but my etimology dictionary says the core of the word (the verb "szab") is an old word in the Hungarian, so those words are either borrowings or just accidentaly similar words with no actual connection or possibly names of families with Hungarian origin.
I do not have any idea what do you mean by "corruption" though.
By the way, Szabó [Tailor] as the fourth most frequent name is sandwiched on the frequency list by Tóth [Slovak] and Horváth [Croatian]... - Saturday, September 22, 2012 2:17:00 pm
- Justin said...
What I meant by corruption is, say it was an original Magyar word (or Turkic word), that through association with another Hungarian ethnic group, was manipulated from the original pronounciation or developed the surname - and might also be tied to non-Magyar ancestry potentially.
Also, what is number 1, Attila? ;)
- Sunday, September 23, 2012 2:51:00 am
- Slumbery said...
We start to be seriously off topic there, so if you have further questions, we should move the discussion to private channels. I am going to fill my profile for that...
I hope Dienekes will let this last comment go alive.
I can imagine that families outside Hungary use the "Sabo" form, especially if the Hungarian identity was lost.
Attila is a "first name" (it is actually a last name in the Hungarian name order, but the English term is "first name"), while Szabó is a family name. They are not on the same list. The most common family name is Nagy [Big]. Quite simple one. :)
Also Attila is not a particularly popular name, it is not in the top ten. It was more popular 20-30 years ago, but even then never made into the top 3 and actually it used to be always expressly rare before became fashionable in the second half of the 20. century. - Sunday, September 23, 2012 6:23:00 pm
- Onur Dincer said...
I know this is a personal question, but have you or any other full Jassic you know ever tested your/his/her DNA through any DNA testing company and/or any online DNA project? I am asking this because I am curious about how a 100% Jassic would genetically show up and how similar or dissimilar to other Hungarians and other ethnic groups.
This is my last post to you on this thread and I will post no more off topics. - Monday, September 24, 2012 2:31:00 am
- Unknown said...
It would be interesting to read some research on other eastern German groups as well, like on Pomeranians, Silesians, East and West Prussians... They can't be all reduced to Mecklenburg Germans. But, understandably this Polish research team had its primary focus on the Slavic/Polish groups.
- Monday, September 24, 2012 9:34:00 am


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I'm using a handbook to document some of our unscrapped photos from pre-Project Life days. I can't get enough of the Atlantic collection so I wanted to be sure to use it on a few spreads throughout my book. I chose a couple of beach trips and some fun summery photos because I knew they would be great with the lovely colors of the Atlantic collection. There is a huge selection of fun embellishments, and I used a wide variety of them on my spreads! The darker wood veneer and cork embellishments look great paired with the soft colors of the collection. I also added in some of the digital printables and cut files that are available to coordinate with Atlantic.
(supplies - patterned paper : Studio Calico Atlantic Montauk, Atlantic City, New Haven, Seabrook, Cape Cod, Portsmouth, Scarborough, Vellum, 6x6 Paper Pad; embellishments : Studio Calico Atlantic Sequin Pack, Star Stickers, Vellum Die Cuts, Tiny Hearts Wood Veneer, Burnished Circle Wood Veneer, Glittered Star Stickers, Cork Circle Stickers, Cork Arrow and Chevron Stickers, 12x12 Sticker Sheet; digital : Studio Calico Atlantic Digital Printable Labels, Digital Printable #1, Digital Printable #2, Circle Digital Cut Designs, Sail With Me Cut Designs, Planetarium Scrapbook Stamp Brushes; staples : Tiny Attacher; Cardstock : Studio Calico More White; alphas : 12x12 Sticker Sheet, Rockabye Thickers, Roundabout Project Life Kit; chipboard sticker : Roundabout Scrapbook Kit; punch : Studio Calico Atlantic Anchor Punch; washi tape : My Mind's Eye; handbook : Here & There Chipboard Album, Page Protector #2, Page Protector #3, Page Protector #4)

subset: commoncrawl


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This piece was originally published on the Blowfish Blog. I never reprinted it here, since it was very topical, and by the time the reprint rights had reverted to me the media flare-up I was writing about had run its course. But the Blowfish Blog archives are apparently no longer on the Internets, and the original piece is no longer available. So in the interest of completism and making all my published works accessible, I'm going ahead and posting it here.
Important note: This piece discusses my personal sex life and sexual fantasies. Family members and other who don't want to read about that, please don't read this. (I would also just like to point out: I believe this is my only post to be tagged with the categories Sex, SM, and Sports. I'm finding myself very entertained by this.)
Okay. Maybe I'm a freak of nature. But does anybody else like Tiger Woods better after reading the freaky text messages?
Or, maybe more accurately: Does anyone else have more sympathy and compassion for Tiger Woods after reading the freaky text messages?
Until recently, I had almost zero interest in the Tiger Woods sex scandal. Rich, famous, powerful man; maintained a squeaky-clean public image for years; turned out to be sneaking around on his wife with multiple mistresses and sex workers. Ho freaking hum. Wake me when something remotely unusual happens.
But then -- pretty much by accident, since I'd been ignoring this story to an almost aggressive degree -- I read about the text messages he sent to one of his sex partners, Joslyn James, which she saved and released to the media.
I want to treat you rough. Throw you around, spank and slap youSlap your face. Treat you like a dirty little whore. Put my cock in your ass and then shove it down your throat
Hold you down while i choke you and Fuck that ass that i own
Then im going to tell you to shut the Fuck up while i slap your face and pull your hair for making noise
Where do you want to be bitten
I really do want to be rough with you. Slap you around
For years. And punish you for not seeing me more
I want you to beg for my cock. Kiss you all over to convince me to let you have it in your mouth
Next time i see you, you better beg and if you don't do it right i will slap, spank, bite and fuck you till mercy
I read these texts. And my whole perspective changed.
All of a sudden, my perspective on Tiger Woods was no longer, "Powerful man with a sense of sexual entitlement, who cheats on his wife with impunity and doesn't think sexual ethics apply to him."
All of a sudden, my perspective was, "Oh. He's kinky."
And that's a radically different perspective.
For starters: While I don't generally condone cheating, there are a handful of situations where I understand why people do it, and feel some compassion for people who do it, and recognize that a reasonable person might decide that it's the least bad choice available to them. The main one I've written about before is the situation where one partner in a deeply tangled relationship turns off the tap on sex -- unilaterally, non-negotiably, and permanently. (And yes, I know, not everyone agrees with me about that. Please, can we not start that argument again?)
But I also have a fair degree of compassion for people in long-term monogamous relationships (or supposedly monogamous relationships), who have strong, deep-rooted sexual desires that their partners can't or won't accommodate. I have, for instance, a tremendous amount of compassion for married people who are figuring out, partway through their marriage, that they're gay. I mean, what are you supposed to do? Break up with your spouse or partner of many years... before you experiment and figure out whether you're really gay? It's a lousy situation, one where no choice is going to be a really good one, and people who find themselves in it have to make the best bad choice they can.
And this applies to being kinky -- every bit as much as it applies to being gay. What are you supposed to do if you start figuring out, partway through your marriage, that you're kinky? That the fantasies you've been having for most of your life may be more than just fantasies? That they may be a core part of your sexuality, without which sex is always going to be disconnected and unsatisfying?
Yes, in a perfect world, people would come out about their sexual desires and orientations before they get into committed relationships with people who can't or won't satisfy them. But we don't live in a perfect world, or anything like a perfect world. We live in a sex-negative and sexually ignorant world, and both the hostility and the misinformation about sex -- especially about sex that's kinky or otherwise unusual -- means it often takes years for people to figure out who they are sexually, and accept it, and find a way to fold it into their lives. At which point, their lives have often already gotten tangled into a web that it may be hard to get out of. Hard on themselves... and hard on other people.
Now. Add to this the fact that plenty of sexual desires and orientations aren't socially acceptable. To say the least. Plenty of sexual desires and orientations will get you treated like a pariah if people find out about them.
And being kinky is definitely on that list. In fact, I'd argue that being kinky is significantly higher on that list than being gay. In much of the world, being gay has a fair degree of acceptance, and isn't that big a deal. In the overwhelming majority of the world, being kinky still gets you treated as a mentally unbalanced, amoral freak. At best.
Yes, some of us are willing to be out about it anyway. I am, obviously. But frankly, my willingness to be out about being kinky has less to do with my courage and integrity and fine nobility of character... and a whole lot more to do with the particular circumstances of my life. Circumstances I can't really take credit for. I don't have kids. I live in a sexually tolerant part of the world. I don't have a job that coming out as kinky could jeopardize: I'm not a teacher, or a public official, or a pillar of the local business community.
Or a professional athlete.
And as long as being kinky is as deeply stigmatized as it is, I'm going to have compassion for kinky people who keep their kinks private. I wish they wouldn't keep it private from their spouses; but again, that can be a complicated moral decision, and while it isn't the decision I'd make, I can see why some people in some situations might decide to make it.
This is almost certainly not fair or rational. But I now have sympathy and compassion with Tiger Woods for an entirely different reason:
I now see him as family.
I see him as one of us.
When I read those text messages, I did not for one second think, "What a disgusting person Tiger Woods is for doing those horrible things to that poor woman." When I read those text messages, I thought, "Damn, that's hot. I want to do that. I want to have that done to me. Now, please." I could totally see myself doing any or all of the activities described in those messages. Or writing a porn story based on the messages. Or going to a Perverts Put Out reading and hearing a porn story by Thomas Roche or Charlie Jane Anders or some other brilliant sick fuck, based on the messages. And I find it easier to cut people slack when I see them as part of my tribe. It isn't fair or rational, but it's human.
I'm not totally letting Tiger Woods off the hook. For one thing, I have a serious problem with the deliberate way he played the squeaky- clean public persona to his advantage. There's a difference between keeping your sexuality private, and deliberately projecting a deceptive, concocted image of it. What's more, the squeaky-clean, All-American, family-man schtick totally plays into the exact same sex-negativity and kink- negativity I've been complaining about. I have compassion for kinky people who feel like they have to stay in the closet and get their kinky thrills on the down low. I have rather less compassion for people who do all this... while at the same time trading on the idea that a nicey-nice sex life somehow makes you a better citizen/ role model/ sneaker salesman. It's not as bad as closeted politicians who vote for anti-gay legislation while screwing around on the sly with same-sex partners... but it's in a similar category, and it's a category that ticks me off.
Ultimately, though, I don't know what the deal is with Tiger Woods. And neither does anyone else, except Tiger Woods himself (and maybe not even him). I have no idea, for instance, what the deal is with his marriage: whether he tried to bring his wife into his kinks and she refused, or whether he never told her about them, or whether they had a wild and kinky and happy sex life and he skanked around on the side anyway. Or what. There's too much about this story that I don't know for me to really come to any fair or accurate judgment about it.
I just know that my thinking about Tiger Woods has shifted.
The Tiger Woods sex scandal in general, and the kinky text messages in particular, are having the overall effect of making his popularity drop like an anvil. Most people -- especially in the media -- seem to be reacting to the text messages with derision or disgust or both. But I'm having the opposite reaction. The text messages aren't alienating me from Tiger Woods. They're making me identify with him. They're making him seem less like an unapproachable cog of the carefully manipulated celebrity machine... and more like someone I might run into at a party. More like someone with a complicated sex life, who's made some fucked-up but understandable choices about it.
More like, you know, a human being.


text:
The good news? The bottle looks really, really cool.
The bad news? Most of us probably don't have the budget to make this a casual Christmas present.
Here are the details from U of L:
The Cardinal Athletic Fund has teamed up with Maker's Mark to raise $1 million for the University of Louisville Academic Center of Excellence, helping U of L student-athletes be as successful academically as they are athletically.
Maker's Mark is donating 500 uniquely designed bottles celebrating the Year of the Cardinal with an unprecedented four-part feat in college athletics: Louisville football's Sugar Bowl victory, the baseball team reaching the College World Series, advancing to the national championship game in women's basketball, and winning the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
For a $2,000 investment in the academic center, donors not only receive an exclusive and one-of-a-kind commemorative Maker's Mark bottle, which is personally autographed by each of the four coaches, but also will be recognized in a high-profile venue for their contribution and will know that they have made a significant contribution to the future of Cardinal Athletics.
Cardinal Athletic Fund members will have priority access to the commemorative bottle in advance of the general public. CAF members may contribute to this campaign beginning Thursday, Dec. 5 at 9 a.m. by calling the Cardinal Athletic Fund at (502) 852-8460. Any remaining bottles will be available for non-CAF members starting Friday, Dec. 6. The entire donation will be used to benefit UofL's new Academic Center of Excellence. The bottles will not be available in stores.
The `Year of the Cardinal' Maker's Mark bottle is a limited edition offering provided by the Kentucky distillery. Maker's Mark donated the bottles for this project as a special way for Louisville fans to remember the greatest year in college sports history. This bottle is separate from the original series of three Louisville themed bottles Maker's Mark initially announced to be sold in stores.
The first of those bottles arrived in July 2012, featuring the image of Louisville's football head coach Charlie Strong. The second in this series hit stores in June 2013 to commemorate men's basketball coach Rick Pitino. Details regarding the third bottle in this series have not been released at this time. It will not be available until mid-to-late 2014, and will also be sold in stores.
The Academic Center of Excellence will be located beneath the Norton Terrace at the south end of the Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The center will house the academic operations for the entire athletic department and all student-athletes and academic staff will be located in one building. The center will feature tutorial areas, laboratories, office areas and classroom space. Fundraising is in the early stages for the facility.
The additional $1 million gained through the special Year of the Cardinal bottle offer will bring the total raised for the academic center to $7.1 million toward the $14.5 million project.


text: Shadhi season is coming again and so are latest wedding dresses. In wedding season everyone wants to look unique and different. In this three day event perhaps Mehndi function is most exciting day for girls as well as for brides. Here we are giving you some ideas for your mehndi function. Each and every dress is special in its own way some are multi-color frocks and some are made in combination of yellow and green/pink/orange. In this season anarkali frocks, long toe touching loose A-line shirts and multi-color jamavar kaliyan frocks are very much in. Do consider these designs before designing your own mehndi dress. Best of luck girls 😉


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GE remains the dominant supplier of wind turbines to the U.S. domestic market, but competitors are coming at it from every direction of the globe.
GE turbines are generating 40 percent -- or 18,873 megawatts -- of the 48,770 megawatts of installed U.S. wind energy capacity. That is 12,519 turbines averaging about 1.5 megawatts each.
Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark made 19 percent, or approximately 9,154 megawatts, of the turbines generating U.S. installed capacity. That's 6,996 turbines averaging under 1.3 megawatts each.
Siemens A.G. of Germany is third with 11 percent -- 5,330 megawatts -- of U.S. capacity, with 2,511 turbines at an average 2.1-megawatt size.
Of the 6,816 megawatts of wind capacity installed in the U.S. in 2011, GE led with 29.4 percent (2,006 megawatts from 1,252 turbines). Vestas was close behind, with almost 29 percent (1,969 megawatts from 952 turbines). Siemens was again third, with just over 18 percent (1,233 megawatts, 534 turbines).
The real news is the wind industry's growing list of manufacturers supplying the domestic turbine market. It grew more in 2011 than in any year since 2008. Among other newcomers were Goldwind and Sinovel, two of China's biggest wind makers. And while manufacturers who were outside the top ten list added only 0.05 percent of U.S. installed wind capacity in 2007, their share of it in 2011 was over 5.5 percent.
Furthermore, while there were only seven manufacturers with over 1,000 megawatts of U.S. installed capacity (GE, Vestas, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Gamesa, Suzlon and Clipper), there were nine manufacturers last year that added over 150 megawatts to it (Nordex and RePower).
The average size of all turbines installed in the U.S. also took its biggest jump since 2008, moving from 1.77 megawatts to 1.97 megawatts. This strongly suggests that GE's workhorse 1.5-megawatt machine and others in its class, while still dominant in terms of sheer numbers built, no longer represent the industry standard. Turbines of 1.8 megawatts and 2.3 megawatts also represented a large percentage of those installed in 2011, and both 2.3-megawatt and 3.0-megawatt turbines were also built in significant numbers last year.
The U.S. wind turbine manufacturing industry and its supply chain had 472 facilities at the end of 2011. But the industry has already seen layoff announcements and cancellations of plans for new facilities from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Vestas and others, due to Congress' decision not to extend the industry's 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour production tax credit (PTC).


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By Jesse Washington AP National Writer It's almost a cliche. First, someone talking about Blacks makes reference to fried chicken, watermelon, monkeys, or dogs — all stereotypes used to denigrate African Americans. Someone might even use the indefensible N-word. Then, along with the inevitable apology, comes the kicker, "I'm not racist."
You are here: Home / Archives for Obama Inauguration Rehearsal


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Pics from my outings over the past few weeks and of course, Percy. He's grown so much and is a total cuddler and maniac. Thanks everyone for the tips! I really believe they all helped so much! It's crazy to think he went from the screaming for feral kitten for 3 days straight to the little love ball he is today. I'm so happy to have him.
Those of you who have followed the blog know I take a bunch of pics allllll of the time and post a lot to Instagram. If you're on there follow me! By the way I am thinking this post should really be called museums and cats — changing post title right now... See you tomorrow.
Mark Rothko's No. 14 at the SFMOMA.
Ah, Georgia.
One of the Francesca Woodman's images I took &mdash: I'll be posting about that show tomorrow. It was amazing and stunning.
Loved this piece by Robert Gober (see below accompanying text - albeit crappy photo :( ) in the exhibit The Air We Breathe a reflection on equal rights for same sex couples.
Dieter Rams on design.
Miss Gardenia, Méret Oppenheim. Ooops, the above is actually by Claude Cahun got my notes mixed up! Thanks to Elisa Flynn for the kind heads up! :)
#1 Rope, Jackie Winsor.
My cat Gato who resides on the east coast with his Grandmother. ;)
So many good juxtapositions with these greeting card place holders. They're each part of a 3 piece group at Electric Works I saw a few weeks ago -- couldn't find the artists name though.


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< Features
Ext4 support beyond 16T
Support Ext4 filesystems larger than 16 terabytes.
- Name: Eric Sandeen
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora 17
- Last updated: 09 Jan 2012
- Percentage of completion: 100%
Detailed Description
Previous Fedora releases have been limited to 16T (or more exactly, 2^32 filesystem blocks) maximum filesystem sizes on ext4. The recent e2fsprogs-1.42 release upstream has lifted this limitation, and the desire is to scale ext4 to 100T maximum filesystem size. While code is generally in place, testing and verification will be useful.
Benefit to Fedora
16T is also known as "A raid of a few cheap commodity 3T drives" and is just not that big today. Users will be running into the 16T limits of Ext4, and while Fedora ships non-default filesystems like XFS which can handle this without any trouble, we should improve our default filesystem to function at these sizes as well.
e2fsprogs-1.42 has already been released with initial support greater than 16T, and kernel code already has support as well. There are rough edges to work out, and there is testing to be done.
How To Test
Ideally, stress testing on actual storage of significant size. However, we can also make use of things like sparse loopback files or dm targets to facilitate testing when large storage is not available. The xfstests test suite can do some work on large loopback files, for example.
User Experience
No significant changes, other than the ability to mkfs, mount, and administer larger ext4 filesystems.
Contingency Plan
If significant issues are encountered, we could locally patch e2fsprogs-1.42 and beyond to disallow larger filesystems.
- Because this is primarily an enhancement of existing capability, very little documentation should be required, unless we run into significant caveats for use.
Release Notes
- Ext4 filesystems are now capable of greater than 16T.
- The GA version of e2fsprogs in F17 (e2fsprogs-1.42-4.fc17) contains some bugs related to filesystems above 16T, primarily related to e2fsck. Running e2fsck on these large filesystems may induce corruption. Users with > 16T ext4 filesystems are advised to upgrade e2fsprogs as soon as an update is available.


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AMD's Radeon HD 5570: Low Profile, Higher Performance
by Ryan Smith on February 9, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
When AMD launched the 5670, they told us they had 2 more cards on the way: the 5450, and a 5500 series card. Last week we saw the launch of the 5450, utilizing the Cedar GPU and finishing off AMD's chip stack. Today we're looking at that 5500 series card, the Radeon HD 5570.
AMD Radeon HD 5670 | AMD Radeon HD 5570 | AMD Radeon HD 4670 | AMD Radeon HD 5450 | AMD Radeon HD 4550 | |
Stream Processors | 400 | 400 | 320 | 80 | 80 |
Texture Units | 20 | 20 | 32 | 8 | 8 |
ROPs | 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Core Clock | 775MHz | 650 | 750MHz | 650MHz | 650MHz |
Memory Clock | 1000MHz (4000MHz data rate) GDDR5 | 900MHz (1800MHz data rate) DDR3 | 1000MHz (2000MHz data rate) GDDR3 | 800MHz (1600MHz data rate) DDR3 | 800MHz (1600MHz data rate) DDR3 |
Memory Bus Width | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit |
Frame Buffer | 1GB / 512MB | 1GB | 1GB / 512MB | 1GB / 512MB | 1GB / 512MB |
Transistor Count | 627M | 627M | 514M | 292M | 242M |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 55nm |
Price Point | $99 / $119 | $80-$85 | $60-$90 | $49-$59 | $35-$55 |
Right off the bat, the 5570 marks a bit of a departure from AMD's numbering scheme for the 4000 series. While the Radeon HD 4550 was the faster of the two cards utilizing AMD's cheapest GPU (RV710), the 5570 is not a faster Cedar card. Instead it's a slower Redwood card, putting it in the ballpark of the 5670's rather than the 5450's.
AMD has done 3 things to differentiate the 5570 from the 5670. The first of which is to significantly castrate the 5670's memory bandwidth. While the 5670 had 1GHz (4GHz effective) GDD5, the 5570 drops that for simple 900MHz (1.8GHz effective) DDR3, giving the card only 45% of the memory bandwidth of the 5670. The second change is more customary, and that is lowering the core clock from 775MHz to 650MHz, leaving the card with roughly 83% of the computational/rendering/texturing performance of the 5670. None of the SIMDs have been disabled however, so this is a fully functional Redwood GPU.
Finally, in another significant departure from the 4000 series, this is AMD's second official low-profile video card. For the 4000 series AMD's only official low-profile card was the 4350, although vendors were known to do low-profile versions of the 4550 (RV710) and the 4650 (RV730). Here AMD is not leaving that up to their vendors, and is doing an official retail low-profile design for their more powerful Redwood GPU. This allows AMD to fill a potential hole in their lineup by offering a low-profile GPU with better than bargain-bin performance.
This card also fills the overall price/performance hole in AMD's 5000 series lineup, giving them something between the $9 9 5670 and the $50-$60 5450. AMD's MSRP on this card will be $85, a bit more than half way between the other two cards. Unlike the 5670 and 5450, we'll only be seeing a single official configuration of the 5570: 1GB of 900MHz DDR3. Our sample comes with 900MHz Samsung chips. It's also worth noting that this is the same memory configuration as the base Radeon HD 4670, which also used 1GB of 900MHz DDR3.
Between the drop in the core clock and the movement to DDR3, AMD has lopped off nearly 30W from the 5670's load power usage, bringing the 5570 in at 42.7W. Idle power also drops by nearly 33%, for 9.7W. This low power usage is a big part of why AMD can get away with the 5570 being a low-profile card, as they only need a small single-slot blower to cool the card. The reference cooler (not that we expect many – if any – vendors to use it) is a blower design built upon a copper heatsink, with a small fan blowing air towards the front of the card.
The port configuration is the same as the 5450: 1 VGA, 1 DVI, and 1 smaller digital port. Our sample came with a HDMI port, with vendors free to use an HDMI port or a DisplayPort depending on whether they want Eyefinity support as enabled by using a DisplayPort. As has been the case with all of AMD's sub-$100 5000 series cards, Eyefinity is still cost-prohibitive at this time due to a lack of cheap active DisplayPort adaptors and monitors offering DisplayPort inputs.
AMD considers NVIDIA's GT 220 the chief competition for this card. The GT 220 isn't an official low-profile card, but there are a few models out there in that form factor. In terms of overall pricing, a number of GDDR5 GT 240s can be found at or right below $85, making the GT 240 the closest competitor for this card.
36 Comments
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YogiBeer - Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - link
Hey i'm a bit of an end user so dont troll on me for asking this but ive got an Hp s5216f system the graphics card i got with it is shovel ware and i need one that can play games like modern warfare 2 and the like...will this do the trick and if not what will.......... thanx for the help............ Cheers mates -
mAJORD - Friday, April 2, 2010 - link
I got one of these to play Battlefield Bad company 2 on a little ITX system.
I OCd it to 720 core 1080 mem leaving the fan at AUTO.
at 1920x1080 Med detail settings, DX10, no AA 2xAF it's quite "playable" 25-mid 30 FPS and looks OK to be honest for such such a low power card. which is exactly what I was hoping.
Saying that I really wish they were equiped with downclocked DDR5! and the same 42w TDP. that would have been incredible bang / watt and size! disapointing AMD :( -
avi1956 - Sunday, February 28, 2010 - link
I purchased HIS 5570 HD 1GB video card from Newegg on Feb 15. When playing games after 5 to 15 mins of play I get crackling sound and frame rate degradation. The problem gets worse till the frame rate drop becomes progressively worse and noise continues. Also the OS slows down (mouse slow down). The only way to recover is to reboot. I have gateway SX2802-01 quad core Q8300 with 4 meg ram and windows 7 64 bit and latest catalyst driver dated 2/17/10 from ati.com. I have sent a belarc trouble report to ati and HIS and awaiting their feedback. Not sure if this is a hardware or software problem. -
PhantomKnight - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link
Thank you for a very informative article. It clears a lot up. I'm interested because I'm sick of using old hot noisy hardware.
I don't normally like typo posts, but when it confuses, it's a problem.
"As with Sapphire's 5450, their 5770 comes in a surprisingly large box. Inside is the card, a low-profile bracket, drivers, an installation guide, and Arcsoft's SimHD video conferencing plugin."
While I'd love to see a 5770 utalise a low profile, I doubt it will happen. -
office boy - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - link
With the NV GT cards supporting 8 channel LPCM is ATI's support of Bitstreaming that important? Decoding in the PC vs in the receiver.
Isn't the outcome is the same? Uncompressed 7.1? -
wlee15 - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - link
The GT and older ATI cards don't support the Protected audio path which means that any soundtracks higher than 16-bit 48 khz are downsampled to 16-bit 48 khz.
Also the HD 5570 should support support Vector Adaptive with newer drivers.
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1392217&a...">http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1392217&a... -
falacy - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - link
My upgrade process over the last several years has led me to the following system, which I am very happy with in terms performance for the things I actually do (World of Warcraft, media encoding, productivity applications, music production). However, I have a couple "issues" that I'd like to resolve.
eVGA 8600GT 256MB video
1600x900 resolution
Asus P5K-VM motherboard
Q8200 2.33GHz CPU
6GB 667MHz RAM
Seagate 7200RPM 16MB Cache HD
The thermal performance of my case, a modified AT server tower cira 1991, is great and the 8600GT runs at 50c idle 73c avg load, which compairs nicely to the 5570. Ultimately, I'd like a fanless card that can do what I do now.
In WoW I can run at full (4x AA and 8x AF in driver) settings as long as I turn Shadow Detail all the way down to Min. However, any time there is a lot fog or spell detail, I end up with a nice 5FPS picture show. Turning spell detail to half resolves that.
Do you think the 5570, when someone creates a fanless version, would solve those two issues and perform a little better than the 8600GT with its whopping 256MB of slow RAM? -
MrSpadge - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - link
I've been reading this sentence in GPU reviews since some time now:
[quote]The GT 240 is the biggest winner here, beating even the 5570. However this is likely due to differences in how AMD and NVIDIA throttle their cards under FurMark.[/quote]
Doesn't it bother you to basically say "Well, half of all these measurements are probably wrong, but we'll show them as a comparison anyway"? Either rename the FurMark.exe or use a different test. 3DCenter.org have shown that Bioshock is very demanding and reaches the highest real world power usage ever recorded in a game (still lower than FurMark, of course). -
Moizy - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - link
Now that the 5450 and 5570 are out, and nVidia won't have replacements for the 210 and 220 for a while, can we have a HTPC card showdown article? I noticed that the GT 220 review didn't analyze the video quality quite like the 5450 and 5570 reviews have, so I'm wondering how they all compare.
Could we have a showdown that analyzes these newer HTPC cards for audio and video capabilities, and maybe throw in the new Intel HD graphics? Would be very educational for those of us that want a good HTPC card but don't care about gaming. -
Ryan Smith - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - link
If you check the 5450 article, I actually do have a shot of the GT 220 in there. It actually does rather well at the VA test, but going NVIDIA means you have to give up some degree of post-processing control, along with bitstreaming audio.


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Earthoil, the cosmetics division of Treatt, has named Leopold Kerama as director of African operations for Earthoil Kenya, effective February 25.
Kerama, who will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the company together with its overall strategic direction, has now taken over from group African operations director, Wayne Barratt, who will continue working with the company until March.
With previous experience at British American Tobacco and Wrigleys, Kerama has a background in engineering, project management and manufacturing, as well as quality and health and safety.
"We're delighted to have Leopold Kerama on board," said Daemmon Reeve, Treatt's Group CEO. "He brings with him a wealth of relevant industry experience, which will enable him to provide valuable support for our customers and ensure the successful management of Earthoil Kenya's operations. Leopold Kerama will oversee activity at our Kenyan facilities to help drive our business forward."


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In this example, I will show you how to display a different menu for users based on their login status for the WordPress TwentyTen theme. This process can be adapted to any theme (and using the same principles, could be adapted to use anywhere on your WP site).
Note: There is an alternate (and easier) method of doing this posted here. That post displays the method currently used on this site.
Some Prerequisites
This is primarily for those using WP-Members who have asked about showing different menu items based on a user's login status; but the method described is not limited to use with the plug-in. This will work with any WordPress installation.
This post assumes that the reader is already familiar with creating menus through the WordPress admin panel. If not, you can familiarize yourself with this process via the WordPress Codex.
It is VERY important to note that you should not make the discussed edits to TwentyTen directly. You should be using a child theme for any changes, otherwise, when you upgrade WordPress or TwentyTen, your changes will be overwritten. A tutorial on creating child themes is not the purpose of this post. If you are not familiar with this process, begin with the WordPress Codex description of Child Themes.
The Process
First, create two menus. This is done in your WP admin panel under Appearance > Menus. For this example, I created on called "logged-in" and one called "logged-out". It should be intuitive which is which.
For the "logged-in" menu, add the pages and content you want in the menu for users who are logged in. For the "logged-out" menu, put in the content to display if the user is not logged in.
To implement these menus, you will make a slight change to the header.php file for the TwentyTen theme. Look for the following line in this file:
<?php wp_nav_menu( array( 'container_class' =>; 'menu-header', 'theme_location' => 'primary' ) ); ?>
Replace that line with the following:
<?php if( is_user_logged_in() ) { $menu = 'logged-in'; } else { $menu = 'logged-out'; } wp_nav_menu( array( 'menu' => $menu, 'container_class' => 'menu-header', 'theme_location' => 'primary' ) ); ?>;
Basically, we are just adding a parameter for wp_nav_menu to determine which menu to load. We are using a variable $menu that will provide the menu name depending on the user's login status.
It's that simple.
For a related discussion on how to display different elements in the Loop area of your theme, see this post: Blocking Content in a Custom Template.
Originally posted at http://butlerblog.com/2011/11/21/show-menu-based-on-wordpress-login-status/


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Haiti Dispatches No. 3
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- In a chance encounter with a young Haitian who volunteered to drive filmmaker Gerry Straub around Port au Prince, conversation turned to the future of Haiti and what might be required for the country to rise from the ashes of the earthquake in a new way.
The young man, who came from a family of means, who had lived for a while in the United States and whose family owns a factory that employs about 750 people, began describing to Straub life before the earthquake. "He said before, there were people living in misery and who had no food and for whom every day was a struggle for food and survival and those who were wealthy," Straub said. "After the earthquake, he told me, that line between those who have and those who don't have has disappeared. Everyone is in the same boat, the struggle for food and everything else is really intense."
The young man told Straub that he and some friends have been talking among themselves since the quake "about the notion of common good and the fact that the line between rich and poor had been erased," said Straub. "He said that they understand the corruption within Haiti and what it has done to the country in the past. He told me 'This is a time for Haiti to start all over and do it right. He and his friends are talking now, saying, 'We have to do this right, we can't do it the same old way.'" At the end of the tour of the city, Straub's new acquaintance refused to take reimbursement for gas and for his time.
The factory owned by the young man's family was not affected by the earthquake, and he said he hoped the facility, which manufactures chef's coats and other types of uniforms for workers, would open again Jan. 25. In the meantime, he said, he has been busy trying to find food for his workers.
On Jan. 23, the banks in Haiti were opened for the first time, Straub said, and they were mobbed with long lines outside. The same situation occurred at Western Union outlets, he said, where people were finally receiving money from outside the country.
Straub observed that on the second and third day of his stay, while being driven around the city, he stopped several times to get out of the car and walked for several blocks, filming the devastation, the crowds, makeshift tent villages and never felt threatened. People, he said, might mob places where they think they can get food. However, he said, he didn't see any violence, but he could sense the desperation.
The chance meeting occurred after Straub had traveled to a makeshift clinic in a private house in an area called Pacot, closer to the center of the city than the Haitian Community Hospital where he had been staying. The group was made up of Dr. Anna S. Pak of Dallas, a pediatrician; pediatric ER nurse Tiffany Cupp of Chicago; ICU and labor and delivery nurse Anne Marie Colby of Chicago and Paramedic Ronnie Gentry of Chandler, N.C.
The group attended to between 35 and 50 people who had minor injuries and illnesses or bandages that needed changing.
In the 90-minute tour of Port au Prince, Straub said the scene became worse block by block. A heavy stench of death hangs over many areas where collapsed buildings continue to entomb corpses. Rubble still blocks many streets. Straub said some areas that he was familiar with, particularly a park outside a hotel he had previously stayed at, had been turned into a temporary village with people in makeshift shelters. He filmed a soccer field where every square inch had been turned into a tent village.
He said that gruesome discoveries awaited in every block, highlighting the immensity of the destruction and the amount of work ahead just to clean up the human remains and the destroyed property.
Back at the Haitian Community Hospital, Straub was able to sit in on a meeting of medical personnel with a new figure who had arrived to administer the facility. Adding to the chaos of the quake was the fact that so many doctors and nurses from so many countries kept converging in a place where the need for emergency treatment was nonstop. The talk this day was about setting priorities and beginning to deal with the overload of patients who could be moved but were reluctant to leave the hospital because they were receiving care and, most important, food.
The hospital, said Straub, was also beginning to receive patients who did not have horrible injuries but are ill. Among them, the presumption goes, are people who previously would not have sought treatment but who know that medical attention is now available.
Earlier in the day, said Straub, a truck with food supplies arrived and began unloading goods in an area outside the hospital now crowded with patients and family members. He said a mob scene ensued, so the doctors later discussed new procedures and the need for more troops at the hospital for security purposes.
That evening he stood on a balcony overlooking an open area outside the hospital. In the dark he saw people continuing to carry others into what had become an open triage area. "The doctors are still working around the clock," he said. "The need is relentless, and this is two weeks out. What I am trying to tell you is how widespread this is," he said. "It is hard to take in."
But he was also reminded the day before that life goes on. A baby was born at the hospital around four in the morning.
[Tom Roberts is NCR editor at large. Gerry Straub is a filmmaker, who in December was in Haiti working on a documentary titled "Angels of Compassion: the Luminous Force of Intentional Kindness." He returned to Haiti Jan. 21 for more filming. While there, he filed reports for NCR by phone.]
All the stories from the " Haiti Dispatches " series
For more information on the foundation Straub created, The San Damiano Foundation in Burbank, Calif., and to read about and order his films, please see www.sandamianofoundation.org. |


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Top 3 Interior Design Shops in London – The best that London has to offer.
If you are visiting London in September, here's a chance to get to know what we consider to be the best Interior Design Shops in town.
Mint has made a name for itself in the design world by offering exclusive works by both new, as well as internationally recognized, designers. Mint also places a strong focus on interpreting the latest interior design trends. With many one off and limited edition pieces made exclusively for Mint, having them in your home will make friends and family very jealous.
See also: TOP 3 LAUNCHES AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2016
Aram Store
When Zeev Aram opened his first showroom in 1964, the Londoners that walked past the shop front didn't know what had hit them. Today the shop features a huge range of stunning design pieces, from chairs and tables, to lamps and storage. There is even a whole floor of the shop dedicated to new work by designers that are still relatively unknown, as helping talented designers is something Aram has always deemed vital.
See also: TOP 3 MODERN AND ELEGANT EXHIBITORS AT 100% DESIGN 2016
The Do South Shop
The perfect mix of rustic and modern. The Do South Shop was established in 2010 and has since become a warm and cozy home from home offering furniture, quirky lighting, luxury sofas and unique accessories to add that 'wow' factor. They also specialize in vintage furniture classics.
Find out our Pinterest boards for more inspiration.
(Source: Evening Standard)


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The announcement in this regard was made by Indian Council for Child Welfare president Gita Siddharth here on Monday. Two out of the 21 awards would be given posthumously.
The children will receive the award from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 21 and will be part of the Republic Day parade. The coveted Bharat Award will be given to Gaurav Singh Saini, 13, of Haryana for saving over 50 people in a stampede in the Naina Devi temple in 2008 in Himachal Pradesh.
The prestigious Sanjay Chopra and Geeta Chopra bravery awards will be conferred on 11 year-old Karan Nishad from Uttar Pradesh for saving five persons from drowning and 10-year-old Maibam Priti Devi, who saved several lives when miscreants hurled grenades inside her shop in Imphal.
UP's Ranu Mishra, 10, will get the Bapu Gaidhani award posthumously for saving two children from drowning and 17-year-old Narendrasinh Natwarsinh Solanki from Gujarat will get the award for saving his father from a crocodile.
Vijith V from Kerala will receive the Bapu Gaidhani award for saving four children from drowning. Deepak Kumar Kori from Uttar Pradesh will be given the Bapu Gaidhani award posthumously for exhibiting rare grit in trying to save a drowning girl in his village.
Other recipients of the award include Uddesh R Ramnathkar from Goa, Thoi Thoi Khumanthem from Manipur, Zonunsanga and Lalrammawia from Mizoram, Amal Antony, Krishnapriya and Sujith Kumar from Kerala.
Rekha Kalindi, Afsana Khatun and Sunita Mahato from West Bengal, Dijekshon Syiem from Meghalaya, Vaishaliben Solanki from Gujarat and Yogesh Jangid will also receive the award.
The awardees, who will receive a medal, certificate and cash, are selected by a committee comprising representatives of various ministries, non-governmental organisations and ICCW members. Eligible awardees are also granted financial assistance until they complete their schooling. Since its inception in 1957, the bravery awards have been given to 777 children.


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Windows resources, like GDI handles, are hard to manage correctly without creating leaks. This article shows how smart pointers can simplify this, and almost eliminate a major source of errors. It continues my previous article, Smart Pointers to boost your code, providing a practical example for using shared_ptr. (If you are not familiar with boost::shared_ptr, you should read it now!)
Update: While the first version was more or less like "concept art", I brushed up the sources a bit to make the more useful. I added a reset() function that sets the HandleRef to 0, brushed up the sources a bit and added a special implementation for HDC's. Also, I fixed some snippets here, and added a few things to the article.
Many resource handles encountered in Win32 programming do not fit an object-oriented environment very well. Here is a list of problems:
If you have a function returning such a handle, you must at least specify if and when to release the handle. Things get much more complicated if the handle is a member of the class. Take a look at this innocent code snippet:
class CMessage { protected: HFONT m_font; public: ~CMessage(); // ... }; CMessage CreateMessage(CString const & msgText, LPCTSTR fontName, int fontSize);
Code Snippet (1): Demonstrating the problem
Let me ask one question: Should the destructor of CMessage call DeleteObject(m_font)?
One way or another, the user of the class is concerned with managing your HFONT resource, or what he can do with your class is severely limited.
A multitude of solutions exist, some are simple, some not:
bool deleteTheFont
std::pair<HANDLE, bool>
The nature of handles makes them prime candidates for a reference counting mechanism:
Further, we would like to keep the possibility of "unmanaged" handles (i.e., it is not deleted automatically). This flag should be set when the smart pointer is created (close to where we acquire the resource, because this is the place where we know how to treat it).
See below: Why Not MFC?, why the MFC solution doesn't do it for me.
As seen above, a reference counting smart pointer is ideal to handle Handle.
Why boost::shared_ptr is great for this:
Note: I mentioned custom deleters only briefly (if at all) in my previous article. See the boost documentation for more.
Let's look at the example for an HFONT:
// first we need a custom deleter for the font: void delete_HFONT(HFONT * p) { _ASSERTE(p != NULL); // boost says you don't need this, // but lets play safe... DeleteObject(*pFont); // delete the Windows FONT resource delete pFont; // delete the object itself // (normally done by default deleter) }; // typedef for our smart pointer: typedef boost::shared_ptr<HFONT> CFontPtr; // and a simple "Create" function: CFontPtr CreateFontPtr(HFONT font, bool deleteOnRelease) { if (deleteOnRelease) { // construct a new FontPtr. the custom deleter // is specified as second argument return CFontPtr(new HFONT(font), delete_HFONT); // (A) } else { // construct a new FontPtr with the default deleter: return CFontPtr(new HFONT(font)); } }
Code Snippet (2): The initial idea
The line (A) is the "magic" one: here we initialize the CFontPtr as usual, but specify that the object should be deleted using delete_HFONT when the last reference is gone.
Now, we can make heavy use of CFontPtr: we can use it as return value from functions. We can have it as class member, and the default copy constructor, assignment operator, and destructor do exactly what they should.
Do you remember the first rule for using smart pointers? Put the resource into a smart pointer as soon as you get it. This rule holds up here as well: because when we get the font handle, we know exactly if it should be deleted or not. The smart pointer will carry around this flag, and automatically "do what we want".
There are some problems even this solution cannot solve:
deleteOnRelease = false
But such is life in C++, you are always free to shoot yourself in the foot you like most.
Some problems, however, can be solved better:
if (m_fontPtr && *m_fontPtr) // do we have a font?
But this is the question of the next part.
This paragraph shows how to turn the concept into a complete extensible solution. It might be helpful in understanding how template libraries evolve into the complex beasts they are.
The following goals were set:
This goal was actually set "on the run", because there is not much that can go into a .cpp, and header-only makes the library easier to reuse.
First, we encapsulate the details of the smart pointer, solving the first two requirements:
class CFontRef { protected: typedef boost::shared_ptr<HFONT> tBoostSP; tBoostSP m_ptr; public: explicit CFontRef(HFONT font, bool deleteOnRelease) { if (deleteOnRelease) m_ptr = tBoostSP(new HFONT(font), delete_HFONT); else m_ptr = tBoostSP(new HFONT(font)); } operator HFONT() const { return m_ptr ? *m_ptr : NULL; } };
Code Snippet (3): Moving to a specialized class
You might (or should) notice the following things:
Another note: Now would be a good time to make the simplification used below. However, I'd like to go the "safe & clean way" a bit further.
Second, we can make both the Handle type and the Deleter a template parameter. It's simple for the Handle, but some compilers can't handle a function as template argument. The standard solution is to turn the Deleter function into a functor - that is, a class that overloads operator().
template <typename HDL, typename DELETER> class CHandleRefT { protected: typedef boost::shared_ptr<HDL> tBoostSP; tBoostSP m_ptr; public: CHandleRefT(HDL h, bool deleteOnRelease) { if (deleteOnRelease) m_ptr = tBoostSP(new HDL(h), DELETER()); else m_ptr = tBoostSP(new HDL(h)); } operator HDL() const { return m_ptr ? *m_ptr : NULL; } }; // the font deleter, turned into a functor: struct CDeleterHFONT { void operator()(HFONT * p) { DeleteObject(*p); delete p; } }; // the typedef for our CFontRef: typedef CHandleRefT<HFONT, CDeleterHFONT> CFontRef;
Code snippet (4): turning the class into a template
DeleteObject is used for many types, so we don't want to write our own deleter for each. However, we would like to keep everything strictly typed, so we make it a template again:
template <typename GDIHANDLE> struct CDeleter_GDIObject { void operator()(GDIHANDLE * p) { DeleteObject(*p); delete p; } }; // the typedef now has a nested template: typedef CHandleRef<HFONT, CDeleter_GDIObject<HFONT> > CFontRef;
Code snippet (5): a helper template
There are two things still bugging me:
delete p
The first problem could be solved with another helper template, but that wouldturn the actual type of CFontRef into something like
boost::shared_ptr<HFONT, GenericDeleter< DeleteObjectDeleter<HFONT> > >
However, both solve themselves when using some internal knowledge about Windows: all resource handles in Windows can be represented by a
void *
So, with the following code, we can go:
// a void deleter replaces the default deleter for "unmanaged" handles struct CDeleter_Void { void operator()(void *) {} } template <typename HDL, typename DELETER> class CHandleRef { protected: typedef boost::shared_ptr<void> tBoostSP; tBoostSP m_ptr; public: explicit CHandleRef(HDL h, bool deleteOnRelease) { if (deleteOnRelease) m_ptr = tBoostSP(h, DELETER()); else m_ptr = tBoostSP(h, CDeleter_Void()); } operator HDL() const { return (HDL) m_ptr.get(); } }; struct CDeleter_GDIObject { void operator()(void * p) { DeleteObject( (HGDIOBJ) p); } }; typedef CHandleRef<HFONT, CDeleter_GDIObject> CFontRef;
Code snippet (6): the final code
Before, the smart pointer stored a pointer to our resource handle. Now, we store the resource handle directly in the smart pointer (represented as void *).
(I'll repeat a few things here for the impatient who skipped over all that boring explanation stuff)
CHandleRefT is a template class implementing a counted reference to a Windows resource handle. Usage rules are similar to a reference counted smart pointer. It is used to implement a variety of Windows Resource handles, like:
When constructing a HandleRef from a raw handle, you pass a bDeleteOnRelease flag indicating if the handle should be released automatically when the last reference to it goes out of scope.
For an automatic handle, assign the raw handle to a HandleRef immediately after construction, specifying bDeleteOnRelease=true. Then, pass it around only as HandleRef. This guarantees the handle is deleted when it is no longer used.
For a manual handle, that you will delete yourself manually, or that must not be deleted, specify bDeleteOnRelease=false.
The idea here is that you can pass around, copy, store, or return a HandleRef, it remembers its deletion policy.
Utility functions that merely receive and use a resource handle (without storing it) may use the raw handle as argument. However, when the Handle is stored (e.g., as a class member) or used as a return value from a function, a HandleRef is recommended.
As an example, the CImageListRef class has the following members:
CImageListRef(HIMAGELIST il, bool deleteOnRelease)
Initializes a new CImageListRef.
il [HIMAGELIST]
deleteOnRelease [bool]
operator HIMAGELIST
Releases the image list.
The type must be convertible to and from void *.
struct CDeleter_MyType { void operator()(void * p) { MyTypeRelease(p); }
typedef CHandleRef<CMyType, CDeleter_MyType> CMyTypeRef;
MFC tried to solve the problem with its own wrappers. Unfortunately, they chose to wrap the first option from the "possible solutions" above: no copy functionality, but they pass around CFont *. This might have been a good design decision back then, but now, it is just a pain. Consider a function returning a CFont *. Now, there are two objects that need to be released correctly: the Windows HFONT, and the CFont C++ object. Should you:
CFont *
When turning UI code into general routines and classes, I regularly stumble over all these four scenarios. It is not a pleasant experience, I can tell you - so I end up using raw resource handles instead, to have "only the normal problems".
Further, I like UI code not to be dependent on MFC, if possible. The best code IMO is a library that relies solely on the Win32 API interface, and does not put any requirements on the framework.
The CDCRef class, referencing a HDC, deserves additional discussion.
Device Contexts are the most complicated resource I've come across: There are two cleanup functions: DeleteDC and ReleaseDC, and the latter needs an additional parameter (the HWND the DC was acquired from).
CDCRef is implemented as separate class, since I didn't want the complexity of HDC to "creep" into the Other HandleRef classes. The main difference is the constructor - instead of a flag, you directly pass the deleter:
CDCRef(hdc, CDCRef::Null()) // a CDCRef that doesn't get released automatically CDCRef(hdc, CDCRef::Delete()) // a CDCRef to be released by DeleteDC CDCRef(hdc, CDCRef::Release(hwnd)) // a CDCRef to be released by ReleaseDC
For ReleaseDC, the HWND is passed as parameter to the deleter. Again, we associated all information required for cleanup with the object when it is constructed, which is a design principle of HandleRef.
Further, CDCRef provides static member functions that wrap the Win32 API functions that acquire a HDC. For example, CDCRef::GetDC implements the GetDC Win32 API function, but returns a CDCRef.
The solution provided here is not new. The idea of the article is to show that the solution becomes very simple when using an appropriate library (about 20 lines of actual code), and how such a solution would be developed from the initial idea to use shared_ptr.
Now, How good is the solution?
The second is not an issue: smart pointers are such a fundamental technique that you shouldn't be caught without. The last might be an issue when handling lots of resources. However, such an application likely benefits most from automated resource management, and you can keep performance under control with using a raw handle (or a CHandleRefT<> const &) where appropriate.
CHandleRefT<> const &
The first actually reflects a design choice: CHandleRef does not isolate you from the underlying API, but makes it transparent and easier to use. (MFC, in contrast, isolates you very well in the default case, and fails misderably in all others). Additional advantage: CHandleRef is not only library independent, it also integrates easily with other libraries.
Is a "better" solution possible?
Definitely. You still can do things wrong: release an object while it is still selected into a device context, specify the wrong cleanup policy, or delete the handle while it is still in use. However, a completely safe solution would require to wrap the entire GDI API: all functions creating or using an GDI object.
CDCRef actually show the difference between an open wrapper (allowing access to the underlying API handles) and a close wrapper (denying the same access).
To make CDCRef construction "foolproof" the CDCRef constructor would have to be protected, so they can be constructed only through dedicated functions that initialize correctly. But this requires wrappers for all functions acquiring a DC. Further, to make CDCRef completely foolproof, one also would have to wrap all functions accepting a DC, and remove the operator HDC() from the class. The open wrapper leaves you some responsibility, but you have no problems if I forgot to provide a wrapper (or the original API is extended).
operator HDC()
Thank you all for the encouraging feedback! It is great to see the time to write the article was well spent.
For a more formal conclusion: We have seen that
This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.
A list of licenses authors might use can be found here
template< typename Resource, typename ReleaseMethod > class ResourceReleaser { Resource m_res; ReleaseMethod m_method; public: ResourceReleaser( Resource res, ReleaseMethod method ) : m_res( res ), m_method( method ) { } void operator()( void* ) // ignore the parameter other than checking its nullness { m_method( m_res ); } }; template< typename Resource > class ResourceManager { Resource m_res; std::shared_ptr< void > m_sharedptr; // or boost if you are old-fashioned public: template< typename ReleaseMethod > ResourceManager( Resource res, ReleaseMethod method ) : m_res( res ) , m_sharedptr( static_cast<void *>(this), ResourceReleaser<Resource, ReleaseMethod> ( res, method ) ) { } ResourceManager() {} // default Resource get() const // only valid when we created with an object { return m_res; } bool isValid() const { return !!m_sharedptr; } Resource* ptr() // put in overload also for const etc. // ResourceManager< const Resource > but you probably don't want to { return isValid() ? &m_res : nullptr; } };
operandx wrote:Several years passed since this article was posted
Zac Howland wrote:many people don't pass handles correctly
peterchen wrote:The problem I try to solve is not passing, but returning and storing.
peterchen wrote:(1) Not all "Handle-Like things" have an DuplicateHandle. One example: Registry keys (not technically kernel handles, you can open another handle to the same key, but you lose the access rights of the original HKEY)
peterchen wrote:(2) The solution is generic for all pointer-sized handles. Less code, less test cases, less things to know. A custom implementation for fonts would be very expensive (HFONT -> LOGFONT -> HFONT, or is there a better one?)
peterchen wrote:(3) The kernel reference count isn't available (directly or indirectly) in user mode.
peterchen wrote:E.g. DuplicateHandle has two drawbacks: It returns a new handle value (I tried XP SP2, file handle, DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS). So we can safely assume using DuplicateHandle takes longer and eats additional resources per copy. Further, the copy operation could fail, which must be handled.
Zac Howland wrote:what happens if your reference count gets out of synch with the OS's

 CHandleRef OpenLogFile() { ... }

Zac Howland wrote:you shouldn't be storing handles.
Zac Howland wrote:If the copy operation fails, it means something in the system went very wrong (e.g. you ran out of resources).
HANDLET get() const
unspecified_type *
template <class HANDLE> struct CDCSelector { CHandleRef<HDC> dc; HANDLE oldHandle; CHandleRef<HANDLE> handle; CDCSelector(CHandleRef<HDC> _dc, CHandleRef<HANDLE> h) : dc(_dc), handle(h) { oldHandle = 0; if (handle) oldHandle = (HANDLE) ::SelectObject(dc, h); } void Restore() { if (handle) { ::SelectObject(dc, oldHandle); handle = CHandleRef<HANDLE>(); } } ~CDCSelector() { Restore(); } };
class CGdiHandle
 {
 public:
 /* other stuff ommited */
 virtual ~CGdiHandle() = 0; // a virtual too high a cost?

 protected:
 HGDIOBJECT GetHandle() const { return m_hGdiObject; }
 private:
 HGDIOBJECT m_hGdiObject;
 };

 struct FreeObject
 {
 static void FreeObject( HGDIOBJECT handle ) { ::DeleteObject( handle ); }
 };

 struct DontFreeObject
 {
 static void FreeObject( HGDIOBJECT /*unused*/ ) { }
 };

 template < class deletePolicy >
 class CGdiHandleImpl : public CGdiHandle
 {
 public:
 virtual ~CGdiHandleImpl() { deletePolicy::FreeObject( GetHandle() ); }
 };

 template < bool bDeleteObject >
 class CGdiSmartPtr : public CGdiHandleImpl< FreeObject >
 {
 };

 template <>
 class CGdiSmartPtr<false> : public CGdiHandleImpl< DontFreeObject >
 {
 };

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text:
Yellow metal model of pipe with square funnel-like top. Sticker marked 45. Part of a collection of small models of sanitary appliances, to be used for instruction in hygiene, in cabinet
It's 1895 and Charles Campbell, a member of the Sanitary Institute, has designed and arranged this cabinet for lectures on hygiene and sanitary science – but who is attending such talks? Sanitary Inspectors employed to check and report on the state of hygiene in their neighbourhood are the most likely audience. It was an essential part of their training, in preparation for examinations held by the Sanitary Institute and other public health associations.
Women gained the sanitary officer's certificate as often as men. In the mid-1890s, Hilda Martindale attended lectures at the Sanitary Institute, passed the examination, and went on to study public health and hygiene at Bedford College, London. What were her career prospects? She worked as a factory inspector for more than thirty years, becoming Deputy Chief Inspector in 1925.
It's possible Hilda Martindale was taught using this or a similar cabinet, so what's inside? It has three layers of miniature water supply and sewerage fittings, sanitary appliances such as toilets and wash basins, and equipment relating to the ventilation of buildings. Best practice could be demonstrated, but the cabinet also contains items showing incorrect or defective fittings posing a hazard to health.
Similar exhibits were found in the Parkes Museum, founded in 1876 as a memorial to military hygiene reformer Edmund Alexander Parkes. What was its role? It aimed to educate and inform the general householder and building tradespeople, complementing the work of the Sanitary Institute (with which it merged in 1888) to raise standards of public health.
- Category:
- Domestic Appliances
- Object Number:
- 1895-50/20
- Measurements:
overall: 85 mm x 110 mm x 55 mm,
- type:
- sanitary appliances
- taxonomy:
- visual and verbal communication
- credit:
- Mr. C. Campbell.


text:
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What are the possible causes for getting the "You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page." message when logged in as admin? I've done a lot of searching and found a lot of possible solutions, but in my case they haven't worked.
In my case I've taken a copy of a database off our staging site (close enough to having the same code) and placed it on dev, done the usual steps of changing values in the options table, gone to the lengths of disabling all plugins (through the database, even to the point of renaming the plugins folder). It was a multisite install at one stage (but this should have been cleaned up). I can log in, but get the access denied when I try and go to the dashboard page.


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text:
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 17, 2003
President Bush to Welcome Prime Minister Abbas to Washington
Statement by the Press Secretary
Visit by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas
President Bush will welcome Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas to Washington for a meeting and working lunch on July 25. This will be the President's first meeting with the Prime Minister in Washington. The President is committed to his vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security; and he looks forward to discussing with Prime Minister Abbas the path forward toward realization of this vision.
# # #


text:
I got to attend the most wonderful wedding last weekend. I just have to tell you about it. My sister Jenn got married on Makena Surf Beach in Wailea, Maui last Thursday. She is now the beautiful Jenn McKay. I can't tell you how absolutely wonderful it was to see my little sister sooooo happy. And to see her new husband Ian so happy to. They are both in their early thirties and have been looking for someone for a while. And they both finally found the perfect person. They are such a good compliment to each other. So did we ever celebrate.(Picture: My Family, including my uncle Ken) I couldn't help but think all weekend what good hearts they both have. Jenn works with handicapped children and adults and has always had the good of others at the forefront of her thoughts and deeds. Her wedding was no less. They planned the wedding just before Labor Day weekend so that we could all relax and get a vacation out of it too. My whole family, and Ian's whole family, and many friends were able to attend. (It helps that Iain works for Delta, and there are lots of frequent flyer miles floating around the family)(Picture: My sisters, Amy, Me, Jenn, Emily and Kristen) And it was so good to be able to spend some time with my sisters. Amy and her new husband Collin, and Emily and Kim and I got to spend quite a bit of time together over the weekend. We got to laugh and laugh together. My twin little sisters have always been the joy of my life. As have all my sisters. I am so blessed with such wonderful women to be in a family with. In fact my sister Kristen was actually the one who set Jenn up with Iain. Her husband's brothers' wife knew Iain (he was her sister's husband's brother) and had met Jenn and she and Kristen had talked several times about setting the two up. When they finally did, it clicked. So get this: Jenn's sister's, husband's brother's wife's sister's husband's brother is now her husband. So Iain is now his brother's wife's sister's husband's brother's wife's sister's husband. Isn't that great :-) If you got lost don't worry. I have been lost the whole time they have been dating, until they all lined up for a picture at the wedding. Now I think I have it straight. Amy and Kristen took the pictures. They are both professional photographers. And they got some gorgeous shots. (the good pictures in this post are Amy's the bad ones mine.) We are going to blow several of them up as canvas giclees again like we did for Amy's wedding. I'm looking forward to printing them some beautiful prints.
And of course we enjoyed the beautiful scenery all weekend. I had only been through the Honolulu airport on my way to Japan, never stopped in Hawaii. Kim laughed at me because all weekend I kept saying "Now I understand why Ohana Software uses the Plumeria flowers in their logo." They are so beautiful in person. Everything there is. I don't know if I fit in in Hawaii very well--I never slow down that much. But it was nice. Missed FGS but I found out Kim loves snorkeling and I'm more of a sit on the beach and read person. I hope we get to go back again soon.
Well, we are home for exactly 52 hours this week so I'm amazed I actually got this blog post in. You wouldn't believe what we are trying to cram into that 52 hours to try to keep up with everything. We are on our way tomorrow to the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society conference in Spokane. Thanks to everyone who is holding the fort down the last couple of weeks while we have had several conferences. I'm looking forward to a little break after this weekend but then I'm sure I'll be looking forward to our next conference in Redding, California too. Hope we'll see you soon.


text:
Research Leader
Research Leader |
Grapevine Water Use TDR soil moisture, IR canopy size, & satellite remote sensing |
Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin, 1993 M.S. - University of Idaho, 1989 B.S. - Beijing Agricultural Engineering University, 1984 9611 South Riverbend Avenue (559) 596-2852 |
Before joining the USDA-ARS, Dr. Wang was tenured professor at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and co-director of graduate programs in soil water climate and water resources sciences. His areas of research include environmental fate, transport, and efficacy of methyl bromide alternatives in pre-plant soil fumigation; hydraulic properties of porous media (soils and soilless substrates); irrigation water and solute transport in porous media under different environmental and climatic conditions; and remote sensing of evaporation and crop water use. |
His current projects are to develop sustainable and environmentally sound methyl bromide alternatives and water management strategies for strawberries, grapes, and peaches using field, laboratory, and modeling studies. |


text:
Sandy, UT – There was little at stake for Real Salt Lake and Vancouver Whitecaps FC ahead of their match at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, and that was reflected in the score as the two sides played to a 0-0 draw.
Both sides came into the match already knowing their opponents for the postseason, so neither side had anything of merit to gain from a positive result.
Scoring chances were at a premium throughout the match as Salt Lake managed just three shots on goal to Vancouver's one, but the biggest positive was that both sides came away from the tussle with no major injuries.
Real Salt Lake will face Seattle Sounders FC in a two-legged postseason affair.
Vancouver will head to The Home Depot Center for a one-off match against the fourth-place Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday, the winner of which will take on the San Jose Earthquakes.


text:
My new "black friday" tradition.
I'm sure everybody by now has heard the news about the Wal-Mart employee in New Jersey that was trampled to death when he opened the door on Black Friday to let shoppers in. People that know me know that I'm one of the biggest supporters of capitalism around, but what happened to this gentleman gave me pause. Jdimytai Damour was a temporary employee hired by Walmart for the Christmas season. Who would have ever thought that something like this could have ever happen? I can understand people wanting to get a good bargain on their gifts, but what happened Friday goes way beyond an explanation, rationality or reason. They're was reports that co workers tried to reach Mr. Damour and they were almost trampled as well. Shoppers were still running into the store as the paramedics were trying to revive him.
Part of me couldn't believe that people would be so shallow and ignorant that they would break down a door and trample a man to death just to get bargains on some made in China stuff. I know people were shopping for Christmas, but this isn't what Christmas is suppose to be about! People have indeed lost their minds. I remember when I was 11 years old. Back then the must have toy was the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. I remember the news stories of parents beating each other up trying to get a doll.
People need to grasp reality and realize that "Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas not Black Friday sales. For some reason I can't let go of this story. I said a few weeks ago that I seen the ugly side of our citizens in the way Obama loyalists treated Sarah Palin. The Black Friday incident is right up there as well. From every tragedy a lesson should be learned. I hope people realize that there is nothing wrong with materialism, but they should also realize that it should not consume them. Just like people that see Obama as some sort of God. When people take leave of their sense and focus on something so intensely without reason, this kind of mindlessness will always follow. As I said before, I believe something good must come from this senseless death. I always give an online donation to the Salvation Army every year around Christmas time. Well from now on I will make it a tradition to always donate on every Black Friday instead. It will be my small part in showing that Christmas should be more about helping people not just just helping ourselves to stuff.


text:
My Favorite Service Company San Antonio
My Favorite Service Company is a trusted choice for San Antonio residents because we consistently provide outstanding service, professionalism, and punctuality. Our mission is to be our customers' favorite HVAC service provider by doing our jobs right the first time with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
San Antonio ( SAN an-TOH-nee-oh; Spanish for "Saint Anthony"), officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, second largest city in the Southern United States, and the second-most populous city in Texas as well as the 12th most populous city in North America with 1,434,625 residents in 2020. Founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in 1718, the city became the first chartered civil settlement in present-day Texas in 1731. The area was still part of the Spanish Empire, and later of the Mexican Republic. It is the state's oldest municipality, having celebrated its 300th anniversary on May 1, 2018.The city was the fastest-growing of the top ten largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, and the second from 1990 to 2000. The city of San Antonio serves as the seat of Bexar County; San Antonio is the center of the San Antonio–New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area.
Alta Vista, Arena District, Big Springs, Central Los Angeles Heights, Dellview, Denver Heights, Dominion, East Side, Eastside Promise Neighborhood, Eden, Elm Creek, Englewood, Five Points, French Creek, Government Hill